IMP enters USB arena offering power distribution switches

SAN JOSE--IMP Inc. here this week jumped into the Universal Serial Bus IC market with a family of USB high-side power distribution switches.

The company's single IMP2525 and IMP2525A switches and a dual IMP2526 switch are aimed at self/bus-powered hubs, self-powered hubs in laptops and portable computing platforms, and self-powered hubs in keyboards and monitors. The devices are also targeted at USB peripherals, such as digital cameras and fingerprint identification devices, said IMP. By using USB hubs up to 127 bus connections are possible.

IMP said it now offers the lowest resistance 500-milliampere USB power management switch on the market today. By early 2000, the company plans to extend the series of USB power management chips with quad devices and a single 2-ampere switch.

The IMP2525A features a switch resistance of 70-milliohms maximum, which is a 50% improvement over competitive devices, IMP said. The channel resistance of the 2525 and 2526 is 140-milliohms maximum. The high-side switches are in series with the 5-volt bus supply and are used to switch currents up to 500 milliamperes.

In quantities of 1,000, the single IMP2525A is priced at $0.95 each. The higher resistance IMP2525 is priced at $0.80. The dual IMP2526 sells for $1.02 in quantities of 1,000.